The present invention relates generally to women""s garments and, more particularly, to women""s tops having integral brassieres.
It is known to wear camisoles, halters, tank tops and the like as informal wear and as components of business wear. One drawback to such garments is that they typically must be worn over brassieres, both for purposes of modesty and decorum, and to provide support and comfort to the wearer. In light of this necessity, it has been proposed to combine such garments with integral brassieres.
Cordova U.S. Pat. No. 4,440,174 proposes a woman""s tank top including an outer shell and an independently supported shelf bra. An elastic band is further provided about the lower edges of the shelf bra in order to draw it about the wearer. The front portion of the shelf bra is shirred to define two pockets to permit the front portion of the bra to conform to the wearer""s breasts.
Friedman U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,015 proposes a ladies"" top garment including an outer garment and an inner member. The inner member is attached to the outer element at the front thereof and along the arc of the upper front bound seam of the garment, generally corresponding to the garment""s neckline. The inner member also is provided with encircling fabric material to be attached by means of a clasp at the rear of the garment, within the outer garment. This provides a controllable closure for the inner member and confirms the support function being furnished by extended side panels of the inner member.
Scott U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,557 proposes a camisole underwire bra garment including a camisole unit and an underwire bra unit whose upper portions share the same general contour and configuration, wherein the underwire bra unit is only connected to the camisole unit along their respective upper portions to produce a camisole garment that provides lift and support for a woman""s breasts.
Green U.S. Pat. No. 5,946,726 proposes a woman""s sport top with bust support including two interior bust support sections fashioned to opposite sides of an outer fabric and detachably connected together. In one embodiment, the bust support includes fabric sections containing underwire supports attached to the fabric sections for additional bust support.
One drawback to existing women""s garments with integral brassieres is that they tend to be unduly complicated. A specific drawback of the garments proposed in the foregoing references is that each includes one or more detachable fasteners which must be closed when the wearer dresses. Some of these fasteners are located along the wearer""s back or under the garment body where the wearer would have difficulty reaching them. Many of these fasteners are also visible from the outside of the garment, detracting from the overall appearances of the garments.
Another drawback to the existing women""s garments with integral brassieres is that they tend to be uncomfortable or to fail to provide natural-looking contouring. There remains a need in the art for comfortable women""s garments providing for easy, one-step dressing with smooth results.
These needs and others are addressed by a woman""s garment including a tubular garment body and an inner support unit. The preferred inner support unit comprises a tubular liner secured to the garment body along an upper edge portion of the garment body; a pair of underwires secured to the liner proximate a lower edge portion of the liner; and an elastic member extending along the lower edge portion of the liner. The preferred liner is free of detachable fasteners so as to simplify the garment. In particular, the absence of bulky fasteners reduces unsightly bulges on the outside of the garment.
An especially preferred embodiment of the invention includes a camisole comprising a tubular garment body formed of a lightweight stretch material; a liner formed of a stretch mesh material secured along substantially an entire upper edge portion of the garment body; a binding secured to the upper edge portion of the garment body so as to define at least portions of a pair of adjustable straps for suspending the garment body about a wearer""s torso; a pair of U-shaped underwire members secured to the liner; a pair of connectors secured to said liner to provide load-bearing connections between said U-shaped underwire members and said binding; and an elastic band secured to the pair of U-shaped underwire members and the lower edge portion of said liner. The liner most preferably includes a bridge segment between said U-shaped underwire members having a rigidity greater than a rigidity of liner material surrounding the bridge segment to help position the U-shaped underwire members so as to properly support and contour the wearer""s breasts. In addition, the liner preferably includes darts formed in support sections of the liner defined by the U-shaped underwire members so as to provide natural shaping and a slight degree of concavity to the support sections and increase the surface area over which the weight of each breast is distributed. Most preferably, the liner and the elastic band are capable of encircling the wearer""s torso to provide a comfortable fit and support without requiring the wearer to close detachable fasteners while dressing.
Although the following detailed description will relate primarily to camisoles, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the invention is equally applicable to other types of women""s garments. In particular, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that it is possible to embody the invention both in other types of sleeveless garments, such as halters and tank tops, and in garments having sleeves coupled to, or formed integrally with, tubular garment bodies. Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a woman""s garment with an integral brassiere providing style, comfort and ease of dressing. The invention will be further described in conjunction with the appended drawings and following detailed description.